The Hamptons and Horses
by Meli Miyoko
Summary: After learning about a childhood passion, Castle offers to take Beckett horse-back ridding in the Hamptons!
1. Chapter 1

**Castle offeres to take Beckett horse-back ridding in the Hamptons! This should be fun... ;)**

**Note:** _My first upload on - I've been using this site to read the most amazing stories, and i figured this story would have a better home here than deviantART. If you like it, let me know, and I'll write more!_

_P.S. Please excuse any mistakes!_

**1**

Things were quiet at the 12th precinct that afternoon. Kate sat at her desk, surrounded by her team. The four of them huddled around her work-station to complete the last of their paperwork. Castle had suggested they play a game of Truth or Dare. Much to Beckett's surprise, she was enjoying the playful banter. Listening to Ryan and Esposito reveal secrets of their childhoods made her feel closer to them. Castle, on the other hand, managed to evade most of his 'truths' with interesting quotes and attempted subject-changes; only having to except one dare to steal a dollar form the Captain.

"So, what about you, Beckett," Castle asked with a smirk, "Truth or dare?"

Beckett hadn't noticed she was speaking; she was busying herself with her paperwork, only _listening_ to the game her friends played. The detective was in no mood to embarrass herself, so –not wanting to ruin their fun- she said, "OK, Castle… Truth."

Looking a bit disappointed, –not doubt he would have asked the cop to act out some erotic fantasy if she had said _dare_- the writer cocked an eyebrow and made a face like he was thinking.

_Crap_, Beckett thought, _now he's gonna ask me some ridiculous question_. She felt her cheeks turn a bit pink at the thought of what question Castle may ask her, what if it was too personal.

"What is something most people don't know about you?" the novelist finally asked, and Kate was surprised. _Hmmm… funny way of phasing it, Castle._

Beckettstalled for a moment as she wracked her brain for an answer that was not too personal, but would satisfy him, it had to be good. "Uh…" she started, trying to make it sound casual, "I loved to horse-back ride as a kid."

This seemed to shock the three men. Kate was sure Castle had already conjured up an inappropriate image in his head. "Seriously?" was the only phrase that escaped her team in unison.

"Yeah," Beckett said, surprised that they were so surprised.

"Wow. Tell me more!" Castle insisted in his flat _I want 'details'_ tone.

"Well, my mom loved horses and she would buy me Breyer figures when I was young and when my dad told me that they went ridding on the beach for their honeymoon despite his fear of horses, I begged my parents to take me" Kate explained.

Castle still wanted more of an answer, and so he said, "How often did you go?"

"As often as I could! My dad's collage buddy owned a farm upstate, so he invited us to stay with him almost every holiday."

"When was the last time you went?" their conversation carried on as if Ryan and Esposito weren't there.

"I haven't gone since my mom died."

The smiles on the boy's faces vanished instantly at the mention of the detective's mother. The subject was a sore one ever since the team's run-in with Lockwood. The squad's day ended early and they went their separate ways in the parking garage.

**2**

Beckett sat on the couch of her tiny apartment. She had to downsize considerably since her break-up with Josh, but she got by. The work-year was coming to an end and she figured she would wait until she got her year-end bonus before she went apartment-hunting. There was a long weekend coming up and she planned to take a few of her vacation days. Kate flipped through a travel magazine full of places upstate where she could get away for a couple of nights.

"Newpaltz is beautiful this time of year," she muttered out loud to herself, "maybe I'll go there." The detective had just dropped the magazine on the coffee table and rested her head on her palm when her phone rang.

"Beckett."

"Hey!" Castle's voice answered.

"What do you want, Castle?" she couldn't help but notice sounded hostel.

"I have an offer."

She sighed and said, "Shoot…"

"Come with me to the Hamptons this weekend."

Kate's mouth dropped open and she cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"Alexis has a fencing tournament on Sunday and I know this gorgeous farm-"

"No!" she objected

"Oh c'mon, why not?" he whined.

"Because I'm busy," she lied.

"Liar! That settles it! I'm taking you, and you're gonna get back on that horse… so to speak."

Beckett laughed at his words and found herself not caring that her could hear. Castle had his heart set on this and she knew she could not deter him from his mission to see her on a horse. In truth, she really did want to go ridding again. "Alright, Castle," she gave-in, "But just for one night."

"Great," he sounded like a small child, "come by my place tomorrow at noon. Bring your things!"

What had she gotten herself into?


	2. Chapter 2

3

The next afternoon -having not gone into work on account of her vacation days- Kate Beckett arrived at Rick Castle's door with an overnight bag in-hand. _Am I really gonna do this,_ she asked herself as she raised her hand to knock on the door.

_Knock…knock…knock…_

"Good afternoon, Detective Beckett," the man greeted as he opened the door for her to come inside.

"Hey, Castle," she murmured. It was not uncommon for Kate to feel uncomfortable in the Castle home. She felt like an outsider. Sensing her tense up when he closed the door, Castle offered to take her coat as she placed her bag by the couch. She thanked him and he said, "I'm gonna run upstairs and finish packing," and dashed up the stairs.

Something in the way he said _finish_ made her laugh a bit. _Typical…_ she thought; _leave it to Castle to leave packing for the last possible moment._

"That's so like him," Alexis's voice came from the breakfast-bar. Beckett hadn't even noticed the 17 year-old when she came in. "He always does this," she laughed.

"Alexis-" Kate stopped herself "I didn't see you there."

"My dad told me he invited you. I guess he just wanted to get you out of the city for a while," the red-head was still smiling, but the detective could sense her hesitation. "How've you been?"

Beckett knew she was talking about her team's adventures with Hal Lockwood and friends, but she changed the subject. "Actually, Cas- your dad offered to take me ridding," she said.

Alexis suppressed a laugh and said, "You mean horses? _My_ dad? Please!"

Beckett cocked and eyebrow "What do you mean?" she asked with a smirk.

"Dad is _terrified_ of horses!"

"Really," Kate asked. She was genuinely surprised.

"The last time my dad touched a horse; sober, he was sixteen," Alexis explained.

4

The longer-than-expected car ride had been pleasant enough. After making light conversation with Beckett, Alexis dozed off in the back seat of the car while Kate busied herself with her iPod. She could feel Castle's eyes drift over to her from time to time, and it was making her a bit uneasy.

The Hamptons really was a beautiful place, but Kate felt like an outsider just driving along the streets. This was not the place for a cop -or any over -worked under-paid city employee-.

Castle knew the roads well and soon enough they had reached his beach-house. He hadn't been lying three years ago when he'd told her it was a nice view. The driveway was long, leading to a huge house with a lovely garden.

The car stopped close to the door and Castle tossed Beckett the house-keys. _Could you unlock the door so I can carry Alexis inside? _He asked. Kate had forgotten all about the red-head while she slept. Beckett did as she was told and slipped the key into the lock and twisted it. She pushed the door open and stepped out of the way of Castle with the girl in his arms.

Kate closed the front door behind her and looked around. The inside of the house was decorated modestly; much to Beckett's surprise, it seemed like most of the valuables had been tucked away in case of break-ins in Castle's absence.

Beckett heard Castle descend the stairs and say, "She didn't get much sleep last night." It sounded like he was apologizing for something. The sun had long since set as Kate helped Rick bring their few bags inside.

"The guest-room is the second door on the right," Castle said, handing Beckett her bag. "Good night."

Kate slowly opened the door to the bedroom as if she were waiting for something to jump out at her. The room wasn't as huge as she'd thought it would be but the bed certainly was. _Pillow top_, she thought, _nice_…

Kate felt strange undressing in Castle's house but she ignored the blush that came to her cheeks as she slipped out of her jeans and into sleep-cloths. Sleep came quickly

5

The next morning Kate was awake and dressed at seven, just as Castle had told her to be. They were in the car headed for the farm by eight.

"You know you didn't have to do this, Castle," she said awkwardly.

He sensed she was upset about something, but instead of asking her about it and ruining the peaceful mood, he said "I wanted to."

An hour later Castle car pulled through the huge iron gates of Forget Me Not Stables. The pastures on either side of the driveway were lush and green and Kate could not help laughing when she saw the horses running through them. They were free. Free from worry, form sadness, from fear; that was why she envied them all her life.

"Ricky!" a rough-looking older man called as they pulled up in front of the farm-house.

"Hey, Chuck!" Castle greeted the stable-owner as he gave him a quick hug.

"Got'cher call," he said with a light Bostonian drawl that made Beckett feel welcome, "So glad you could make it!"

"Ah, yes, and this is Kate Beckett" Castle let his arm ghost around Beckett's waist coaxing her forward. The detective extended her hand to the farmer and said "Good to meet you."

"Likewise. If you two would come inside, we can get your release forms signed and get you on a horse."

The inside of the farm-house was covered in trophies from horse-shows and old pieces of tack. Kate and Rick took seats at a table and flipped through the release contract.

"What's all this for?" Castle asked.

"It's just in case you get hurt out ridding, you can't sue the stables." Kate explained.

"Exactly how dangerous is this?"

"Well, horses can be unpredictable animals, so, pretty dangerous."

Castle looked a bit nauseous and Kate said, "You don't need to do this, Castle. Maybe I can talk him into letting me go alone."

"No can do, missy" Chuck interrupted from across the room. "First rule, you never go out on a trail alone."

"No, really, it's fine, Kate. I don't mind" Castle lied.

"Alrighty then," Chuck chuckled "let's head out to the stables and we'll get you saddled up.'

The barn was massive, possibly bigger then Castle's house. The two waited by the fence as Chuck fetched a couple horses. Kate was admiring the atmosphere when she heard Castle squeal next to her. When she turned her head, he was twisted away from the fence with his arms tucked up in front of him. When Kate looked down she was met with the sight of a small white miniature that had stuck his head through the fence.

Kate laughed at Castle's ridiculous behavior as she bent down to greet the animal. The horse pushed into Beckett's touch as she patted his neck.

"He startled me, that's all" Castle tried to play it off.

"He's a sweetheart," Kate said to no one in particular and Rick could not help but notice how relaxed she looked. Was this woman afraid of nothing?

"That there is GunSmoke," Chick said as he returned with their horses –fully tacked-, "he's a stallion."

"Could have fooled me" Kate said as she stood up "he's very sweet."

Castle starred up at the large bay horse Chuck had selected for him "You've gotta be kidding me…" he muttered.

"What's wrong, Castle?" Kate mocked him a bit, and he looked over. Beckett had already mounted her palomino gelding; again, Rick could see just how comfortable she felt.

"C'mon, Ricky, I'll give ya a leg up" Chuck offered and out of respect Kate averted her eyes as Castle mounted. She knew he would struggle with it. _Does he not have a mounting-block?_

"Alright," Chuck began "This here is Magnum" he patted Castle's horse's neck "He's a beginner thoroughbred so he'll be real gentle with ya."

Kate had to stifle a giggle.

"Yer's is Diamond," he said to Beckett, "Quarter horse. He usually leads on trails so you should be fine. Plus, he's my horse" he seemed very proud.

Kate felt honored by the fact a man she didn't even know would let her ride his horse. "Thank you, Chuck" she said and asked her horse to walk-on.

Out on the trail Kate noticed Castle's knuckles were white as he gripped the saddle-horn, other than that, he'd done a very good job of acting relaxed. The air was crisp and autumn leaves were crunching under their horses hooves.

The two rode in silence for a while until they reached a large open field. "You wanna go for a gallop, Castle?" Beckett teased.

"No, thanks… I'm just fine right here" he answered as she asked Diamond to pick up a trot. As he horses trot turned into a canter, Beckett fell into a blissful rhythm with the horse. Castle could see Kate's hips rocking back and forth and he midsection rolling with them. She made it look so natural and easy. Rick smiled at how at home she looked in the bulky saddle. _There is nothing she can't do,_ he thought.

After a short canter Kate asked Diamond to gallop, "C'mon girl, get up" she coaxed. From the other and of the field Castle could see her horse begin to run and at the back of his mind, he found it very unsafe, they hadn't been given helmets.

The bright sun reflected brilliantly off the horses golden coat and off of Kate's hair as well. Castle smiled at how happy she looked, galloping through the field like that. He could hear her laughing, and as they skidded to a stop; her horse and her, Beckett called to him, "C'mon Castle!"

At first he thought she'd meant _let's go back to the stables,_ but as his own horse started to move faster than he would have liked, he realized he was wrong. "Wait, Beckett, I-" but it was too late. Magnum and Diamond were off in a full gallop as they raced back to the farm. Kate was laughing excitedly and Castle knew that if he looked over at her, he would be enchanted by the brilliant smile he knew had come to her lips.

"Sit forward!" Kate told him, and doing as he was told, Castle soon found a rhythm with his horse and could not help but smile too. For the first time in his life, he felt as though he were flying! Kate was ahead of him by a few strides and he watched her, it all felt like a dream. To see her happy like this brought him such joy, the kind of joy he would do anything to give her.

Before she knew it, they had arrived back at the stables, both out of breath but still laughing. "I take it you had a good time," Chuck semi-asked as he left Beckett a hand to dismount.

Chuck handed them each a bottle of water and they found a place to sit at an old picnic table. Castle noticed the tears shining Kate's eyes and touched he hand. For a moment he thought she may be hurt. She gave him a watery smile and said "I haven't been riding in so long because it seemed like something that was special, just for me and my mom."

"I didn't ask" he replied.

"You were not asking very loudly." Kate looked at him for a long moment before saying "Thank you, Rick. This really meant a lot to me." She hoped that it carried the weight of how grateful she was that he had faced his fear so she could have a good time.

"Anytime."

The two sat there in silence for a while before loud thunder interrupted them. "You'd best get on yer way!" Chuck called from the house as he stepped off the porch. Castle took Beckett's hand and lead her to the car, she was twirling her hair.

Kate sighed a bit in false annoyance as Castle opened her car-door for her, just as she was about to get in, her eyes wandered to a small pasture where her gaze fell upon an old grey mare. Castle followed he line of sight and asked Chuck, "What's that horse's name?" just as a small foal walked out from behind the mare.

"That there's Johanna," he answered and Kate felt a chill run up her back, "Sad case, that one."

"Why's that?" Castle asked tentatively.

"She got sick a while back, right before she had her baby. With all the other horses and maintenance costs around here, we don't have the money to fix'er up."

"So what will happen to her?" Kate asked; her voice cracking."

"We're gonna put her down on Monday."

Kate felt tears prick her eyes "What about the baby?"

"I'll have to bottle-feed her or somethin'" _No, I mean what will happen to her? _

"Thanks again, Chuck," Castle said and urged Beckett into the car as the thunder came again.

Castle had arranged for a car-service to pick Kate up that night and take her back to the city. "See you Monday, Castle" she said as she slipped into the van. He could see the helpless expression on her face as they said goodbye.

Monday mornings were always the same for Detective Beckett. She would wake up at an ungodly hour and drag herself to her desk, where she would almost certainly find a massive pile of paperwork to complete. Today was different. As Kate stepped off the elevator she saw Castle sitting in his chair playing with his phone. "G'morning, Castle" she said, trying to sound cheery. Why shouldn't she be after such an amazing weekend?

Still, as she began to sort through the papers she had left on her desk; her mind was focused on the old grey mare. As soon as the thought entered her mind, castle placed his phone in front of her, on it, a photo of that very horse and her young foal.

"I sent it to you" Castle said, his voice –and face- unreadable.

"Why?"

"Well, she's ours, so-"

"What?" Kate was confused, has he really bought a horse?

"Well, technically. I saw how upset you were the other day about Jo- her," he said stopping himself "about how she couldn't get the care she needed."

"So?"

"So, I gave Chuck the money to pay for her vet bills. But in order to legally be able to do that, my name had to be on her ownership papers. So, I figure she's just as much yours as mine."

Beckett was speechless; she didn't know what to think. The little filly would be able to grow up with her mother, which brought the cop a sense of comfort. Like, she could keep the little one from hurting the way she did.

"You know, the baby didn't have a name," Castle interrupted her thoughts.

"Didn't?"

"Yeah, I told Chuck I thought he should call her Kate."

With those works, Beckett let her silent tears fall. She leaned over and kissed Castle's cheek. "Thank you. Rick."


End file.
